Credit

Caption

Lizard stealing the prey, a common lacewing insect Chrysopa vulgaris, trapped by the carnivorous sundew plant Drosera rotundifolia. The lacewing insect has become trapped on the sticky droplets at the tips of the sundew leaf tentacles. Enzymes secreted by the leaf tentacles digest the insect and these insect products are then absorbed by the leaf. However, before the insect could be digested it has been scavenged by a lizard (see: Z750/173 & Z750/175 in this series). The sundew plant grows in a nitrogen deficient environment (bogs), and overcomes this nitrogen deficiency through a carnivorous diet.